Be Smart, Act Stupid
by Breech Loader
Summary: Post SA2. Shadow uses Chaos Control in the fall, but where is he now? Would death have been better? Now he must regain enough memories to escape, but his isn't the only life at stake. Mature Themes.
1. Prologue, Chapter 1

* * *

Be Smart, Act Stupid

By Breech Loader

* * *

Me: Now, people I've been bitching at in reviews have said "You can't bitch at me! You don't even have any stories!" Which is a fair point, except that I have written lots of fanfics. It's just that they're mostly NC-17 and on a site that DOES accept NC-17 stories. And I wrote this one AGES ago, long before Shadow the Hedgehog came out. I figure it's kinda freaky and nothing like as good as I can write now.

Shadow: So, what's the big deal wih me?

Me: The deal with you is how you survived when you fell from the ARK. Now we know how you did that now. But when I actually wrote this, it was as good an explanation as any. Readers will be glad to know that the story itself is actually complete, and not a work in progress. But I don't put up all my chapters at once.

Shadow: All right! Time to be emotionally destroyed!

Me: And HOW! Now, people, I like constructive criticism. So if you don't like the fic, tell me why. And please don't make it anything to do with it being out of date. Oh, yes, and there's sex later. Just so that you know.

* * *

Prologue - The End

Me and Super Sonic watch as the gigantic Biolizard screams its last and is defeated. With a massive burst of Chaos Control, the ARK is sent back into orbit. Suddenly, still floating in the atmosphere, I feel weak, as if the effort has totally drained me.

I don't know whether I tried harder than Super Sonic, or whether I'm just using up my energy faster, but I can feel my Chaos Powers draining away rapidly. I need to get back on the ARK.

But before I can Chaos Control with the Emerald, the Biolizard swings its tail at me vengefully, one last time, as if it knows I'm responsible for its death. It hits me like a brick wall, knocking me back and knocking my green Chaos Emerald out of my hands. My power as Super Shadow vanishes in an instant, and I start to fall towards the Earth.

I can't see anything; the fall through the atmosphere is burning me... my gloves and shoes are charring... the Chaos Emerald is only a few feet away, plummeting with me. There's a bright aurora around it, and I manage to maneouver my way over to it; it's like swimming or something.

The Emerald is scalding hot to the touch, burning my gloves, but I grip it tightly. I have no idea where I want to go, or what I will do when I get there, but I have a very clear vision of myself standing on firm ground.

"CHAOS... CONTROL!" I manage. There's a bright green flash, and I'm suddenly only 50 feet or so from the ground. Only it's not ground. It's a lake, surrounded by what looks like a swamp; someone's in a boat, fishing. Funny how you notice little details when you're about to die. Great, not only have I just gotten some serious third-degree burns by falling through the atmosphere, I'm going to drown too.

I hit the water feet first at what feels like Mach One, and sink underwater.

Is this what you wanted, Maria? I think, For everyone to be happy?

I can see someone swimming through the water towards me.

_Maria?_

I sink deeper into the water, and into unconciousness.

* * *

Chapter 1: Keep It Hurting...

"I don't know what it is, sir. There was this big flash, and it just plummeted into the water, a few meters away from my boat. I jumped in and pulled it out..."

The young man in the big coat looks at the fisherman, then at the creature, "Okay..."

"I thought sir... maybe an explosion in a plane? 'Cause it's got burns on it, see?"

The young man continues to look down at the creature, which is apparently unconcious. It looks almost hedgehog-like, only it is black, with red streaks in its quills, and also on its arms and legs. On its feet are a pair of badly charred... shoes? That can't be right. And there are some burnt scraps of material on its paws, possibly once gloves. And...

He prods the shining green jewel clutched in the creature's hand, "What's this?"

"Don't know sir. It was unconcious when I dragged it out, but it still wouldn't let go of it."

"Odd... well, did you tell anyone else about this?"

"No sir. Came straight to you, 'cause you told me, if I ever saw something... and this is something, isn't it?"

"It certainly is," the young man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a thick wad of green bills, "Let's keep this between us, shall we? But if anybody asks... well, you caught a really big pike okay?"

"Yes sir."

* * *

"What the hell do you think it is?" asks a woman in a white coat.

"I have no idea... it took about five shocks to make it let go of this though..." The young man holds out the jewel, "Looks a little like a hedgehog, don't you think?"

"Think it's even from Earth?"

"It seems to be based on Earth creatures... it's oxygen tolerant... though I don't believe it's a creation of nature."

"Nature can turn up some pretty crazy stuff. You can rig up a DNA test, and then we'll know for sure."

"The brain's about comparable with a human's... do you think it has the capacity for speech?"

"If someone made it... it would probably be as a weapon."

"Heals pretty quickly."

"Odd that it's wearing clothes."

"Analyse those shoes; they seem to contain some high technology."

"Okay, put the jewel in a safe place, and I'll run some tests on it later."

"What about the creature?"

The woman just smiles, "I'm sure we can find some use for it... don't you agree Professor?

The older man just nods.

* * *

"Finished analyzing that jewel we found with it?"

"It's an emerald by composition, and it seems to be some sort of energy source. The problem is, I'm pretty sure that it's part of a set. On its own it seems to store about enough energy to power this facility for an indefinite amount of time."

"And in a complete set?"

The young man shrugs, "I can't even begin to guess."

"What sort of energy is it emitting?"

"That's the point. The energy it gives out is... well, it's not like any energy source I've ever studied, and it doesn't emit any radiation, so it can't be nuclear. It's like some super-powerful battery, but for what, I just don't know. What about the creature?"

"Its brain size is comparable with a human's. It's definitely an artificial lifeform, but from the looks of it, one made with substances found on this planet. The main problem is that it can't have been made with technology from this planet. At least, not current technology. We certainly couldn't make a copy, even with the technology we've got here."

"Maybe someone's holding out on us."

"Maybe."

"Has it come around yet?"

"No."

"Looks almost human... Think it can talk?"

"Can monkeys talk?"

* * *

Straps. Chains. Cold metal. Pain.

Word for that. Nightmare word. Remember it.

Capture.

Gotta remember more...

* * *

"Has it done anything?"

"Snarled, mostly. It's more advanced than anything we've ever created, that's for sure."

"What next?"

"It keeps drifting in and out of consciousness."

"Are you sure we can't make a copy?"

"Fairly sure... but perhaps we can make something else. Take some sperm samples. Oh, and tell someone to go down to the animal shelter. Bring me the biggest female hedgehog they've got."

* * *

Pain... More pain... Too much pain... Needles against my skin...

It's over... for now…

My head... the fog's clearer, maybe it's a new drug.

Drug? Yeah, there's an IV in my arm. Wires all over my body… How long have I been here? Feels like forever... I gotta get back to the swamp... but that's not the only life I remember... there's something else, something older...

Think. Think about what I've heard and seen... Some woman holding me by a leash, a damn leash! Someone's got their foot on my neck... did that really happen? Some sort of cattle prod, shocking, burning... In and out of that tube like a damn yo-yo... feeding tubes down my throat, wires in my head, my body…

Think, damn you! Who am I? What am I? Gotta listen… Listen, damn you!

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"Don't know. I wish we'd found some way to..."

"Yeah, but after a while - I mean, we lost three females that way. They didn't last the first month."

"Hedgehogs are just too small."

I've got to listen… gotta find out who I am… Hedgehogs? Am I a hedgehog? Where am I? What do they want with me? Why is it so hard to think? Gotta get out… gotta go home… gotta find Maria…

_Who is Maria?_

* * *

End of Chapter 1!!!

Me: Finally I'm getting around to putting work up on Fanfiction. Let's see if it was worth it, eh?

Shadow: What the hell are you doing with me?

Me: It's my story. I'll do whatever I want with you!


	2. Some Time Later

Be Smart, Act Stupid 

By Breech Loader

* * *

Me: Yay! Chapter 2! You know, once again I forgot to say that I don't own Sonic Characters. That's Sonic Team's job. But I do own Project Mirage. And those nameless scientists. So if I own those nameless scientists, that means I own all un-named scientists! I am all powerful!!! Gimmie money if you use scientists in your fanfiction! Haha!!!

Just kidding. Something else I forgot to say though, is that I got the idea for this fanfic agest and ages ago off a TMNT fanfic. I can't remember what it was called or who it was by, but I feel I should say SOMETHING.

* * *

Chapter 2: Some Time Later... 

Pain.

Not raw, screaming pain like I've known before. Just flat, mind-numbing, eternal...

Pain.

It's all I've known since what feels like forever. But it's not the only thing I've known. I couldn't think these thoughts otherwise. I remember… I have to remember…

Inside, the tube is so cold that it hurts, but I'd rather be in it than outside; they haven't taken me out unless they wanted to run tests... and the tests always amount to more pain.

I try to think. Try to collect my thoughts. Try to remember what I've seen and hard over the last few months since they woke me up again... It's always so hard to think...

I remember some sort of gem. So powerful, but I could control its chaos. A Chaos Emerald. I remember Maria.

Maria? Who are you? And why did you have to die? I have to remember, I have to remember her…

She was beautiful, with her big, blue eyes and her golden hair… I remember that I loved her… but I don't remember why or how. And I still don't remember why she had to die.

Who are the others I remember? The bat, and the fat old man, and most of all that stupid, stupid blue hedgehog... why do I remember them? I knew them... in a life outside this life, a life where I was more than this, more than these humans could ever hope to be... and I still am…

I am Shadow.

* * *

Now I listen. Listen to everything for clue to who I am, and where I came from. 

"We repaired the gloves and shoes. The material was easy enough, but they had some sort of strange power source contained in the rings..."

Gloves? Shoes? Rings? Power Rings?

"They looked like decoration but they actually power the shoes. It took a devil of a time replicating them."

Replicating them? Why?

"He's reacting well to the nutrients."

"What about the other ones?"

Other ones? I keep my eyes shut.

"It sure wasn't easy to get that female black panther."

"It'll be worth it if it works out."

"I still can't believe they proved to be compatible."

"They were horrible freaks, yes. Three more of the kittens died last night. But we've still got this hedgehog in case we run out, and three other kittens as well to work with."

Kittens? That doesn't sound good. Think. Think harder. Remember more. Yeah, there were needles... and music. Memories are coming easier now. Nasty memories. There were needles a long time ago, when I was someone else...

"Do you think we'll ever get what we want?"

"Can't tell until they're ready and we test them."

"It took us almost three years to get this far. We can't turn back now. If we could just combine them..."

"What if it dies?"

"That's the funny thing, you know? It hasn't aged a day since we found it."

Three years?! I've been here for three fucking years?! God… it's like the nightmare's beginning all over again. But three years… I'm older than three years. I wasn't born here… but somebody was.

Sperm samples, a female panther, compatibility, sexual maturity… the others. My mind's working furiously and I really don't like the answers it's coming up with… but I'm remembering more…

I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform. And I am immortal.

My mind returns to the present. To the wires. To the tubes. To the pain.

"Hey, its brain activity is perking up! It's waking!"

"It's waking too early! Give it a dose of Thorazine!"

Sleep smothers me again.

* * *

Am I awake? Am I even alive? How long is it since I was last aware of anything? 

"Okay, open the tube."

God but I hate those voices. The liquid drains from the tube. I open my eyes. Suddenly I realise I'm naked. No shoes, no gloves... I feel wrong without them. After a few moments I press up against the glass, looking at the humans outside it. How do I know they're humans? They're wearing lab coats. How do I know they're lab coats? I start to beat my hands against the glass.

"Great! Project Shadow is alive and feisty!"

"Too fiesty if you ask me. I say we start training now."

I watch as one of them presses a red button. A shock - agonising pain - races through my body. I scream, and scream, and scream, and it seems that the voice in my head is screaming with me. The pain stops as suddenly as it started, and I slump to the floor, leaning against the glass, breathing hard.

"Wow, did you see that?"

"The others reacted!"

"Could be a coincidence. Try it again."

Another shock goes through me. The same screaming pain, the other voice screaming with me, not adding to my pain, just there. Once the pain stops, I wait for another shock, but it doesn't come.

"Okay. Now for Project Mirage in the next room. Let's see how they react."

"I'd say it'll be pretty similar, if earlier tests are anything to go by."

One of the humans goes out of the room. There's a strange feeling of sleepiness, then my mind screams, so I do too. When I finish screaming, the humans are clapping and cheering outside the tube. They're actually happy that I'm in pain, the bitches...

The other human comes in, "They're feisty, like that one."

That one. What do they think I am, some sort of robot? Well of course. Give something a gender; act like it's got any feelings at all, and soon you start getting attached to it. Bastards.

Be smart. Act stupid. Refrain from pulling out their lungs.

"Open Project Shadow's tube."

It slides open. The world isn't distorted any more. Before I can get used to it, someone puts some restraints on me, and someone else shocks me with something like a cattle prod. I scream and fall to my knees, looking up at the three humans properly for the first time. Two men and a woman, in white lab coats.

I clutch the floor. Hot pain... all through me. Spending so much time in a nutrient bath mean that now even the touch of the air is abrasive. And I'm so damn weak...

"Put it in the big cage. We can sort out its reactions to the other ones in a couple of days - we have to get it trained first."

Trained? That doesn't sound good.

* * *

It's a couple of days later. The training was infuriating. Pretending to be stupid is the second hardest thing I've ever done, right after being nice to these bastards, but if I don't pretend to be stupid and nice I'll never see the other ones. 

And they've put me in the restraints again. It's driving me crazy. I feel like a fucking dog.

Okay… so they're leading me into another room. This one's got a big cage in it. Balls, building blocks, kiddy toys… but I'm more interested in the kittens.

Funny, they don't look much like cats. They look… kinda like me. They've got red highlights in all the expected places, and quills, and long tails. I can see letters painted on their backs in white. There's three of them, two boys and a girl. The boys are playing in the corner with the bricks, carrying out the all-important task of building them up and knocking them down. The girl though, she's already seen me. She half runs, half crawls over to me, and there's a feeling…

_Daddy!_

Daddy? Yes, of course… I reach through the bars and pick her up, hugging her. How does she know I'm her daddy?

_Because you thought so, Daddy!_

Okay, this is getting freaky… I look into her eyes and try to think loud thoughts, _Can you read my mind?_

_Yes! I know all your thoughts, Daddy!_

_What about them? _I think about my sons.

_They are no fun. Their thoughts aren't like yours, Daddy._

_I feel uncomfortable with 'daddy'. Call me Shadow._

_Okay, Shadow!_

I'm suddenly aware of the humans talking behind us.

"Strange interaction there. Think he considers her a potential mate?"

_Get your minds out of the gutter, boneheads…_ I put her down.

I wish I could be in there with them though… wish I could set them free… they deserve better than this…

* * *

End of Chapter 2! 

Me: Bitchin'! Go, me! Go, Shadow! I'm kinda disappointed that there's only one review, you know. So much for stories getting more attention on I'd probably have three or four reviews if I'd stuck to Still, I should thank Cardinel for the review. But discussing pairings... that would kinda spoil it.


	3. Mirage

* * *

Be Smart, Act Stupid 

By Breech Loader

* * *

Me: What is NC-17? It's when you get graphically graphic sex, or violence. It's generally hard to tell but if somebody's flat on their back and being pounded into like a sink plunger and the feelings of orgasmicness are described intensely… well, you get the idea. 

It's not allowed on here any more though, so I put it on Adult Fan Fiction. And yes, Shadow should have killed them all - but he's got other concerns. Like Mirage.

* * *

Chapter Three: Mirage 

I'm screaming in my head. I've been screaming for hours now. It's not because of pain, though. I heard them say something...

"We sold the two males to other sites. Got a lot of money for them that can be used for funding."

_Those were my kids, you sons of bitches!_

"We kept the female though. The most intelligent, the strongest... I'd say she's as intelligent as a chimpanzee at least..."

_As intelligent as a chimpanzee?! She's smarter than you, you bastards!_

I don't know how long they keep me in the tube. I lose track of time after a while. Could be years. They wake me up every so often to do tests, but I haven't seen the kittens since the first time. I don't know how long I've been locked up.

Could be years.

* * *

"Dossa itsy-witsy hedgehog want da food?"

I growl up at the female human, trying to control my rage. Time was when I could rip these guys apart, and now the Ultimate Lifeform is reduced to begging for scraps?

A shock hits me, and I crouch in pain.

"No, darling, you have to be nice."

"Having a bad day, is it?"

The voice. Be stupid for the voice belonging to my daughter. Kill them later. I haven't gotten much from the voice; only fear and pain. Sometimes comprehensible thoughts come through, like anger, and loneliness.

I crouch in submission. Some dried meat is given to me, and I eat it hungrily.

"Smart, isn't it?"

"Shall we introduce it to the other one?"

"Is it trained yet?"

It, it... I stare at the ground, because I know that if I look up, I'll try to kill them, and that will ruin any chance of escaping I ever had.

"I wouldn't say trained. But less agressive certainly. How do you think they'll react?"

"I honestly can't imagine."

I'm led into a larger room. The leash is driving me crazy, I feel like a fucking dog...

It's like a gym. There's bars and ropes all over the place. The humans push me in, I look around. No-one. There's a huge mirror in one side. Two-way, probably. I look away quickly, in case they think I know.

"Mrowl?"

It's coming from above me. So I look up. Sitting on the top of some climbing frame is... something. I know even before I see the red streaks in its hair and fur and arms and legs and tail that it's this 'other one' they keep talking about. It looks like me, or at least, how I guess I'd look if I was a cat. Short, sleek black fur. A ragged white tuft on the chest. Long quills with highlights - sort of. It takes me a couple of seconds extra to notice it's female. She's female. She's my daughter, somewhat grown up.

She looks down at me with intelligent, glowing red eyes, then inclines her head in what might almost be a nod, and jumps down, landing neatly in front of me and looking up - she's six or seven inches shorter than me. She does nothing else, but I hear the voice again.

_Be smart. Act stupid._

_They're watching, _I think back at her, _That's gotta be a two-way mirror._

_Don't look at it. Sit down. We have to talk,_ she says. I sit as she does. She starts talking, or thinking, _Do you know what's going on here?_

_No._

_Damn! Neither do I. But I don't want to stick around to find out. Are you Project Shadow?_

I blanch at the name, _Are you Project Mirage?_

I can hear a laugh in her head, and her face twitches, _Just like humans to be imaginitive, _she thinks, and there's a sneer in her thoughts. She must have gotten that one from me, _It's fun to fool them. Watch just how stupid they think we are._

She gets up, looks at the mirror, right at her reflection, then runs towards it. She draws herself up, her tail fluffs out, and her claws tense. I almost smile. That's a good one. She's faking that she doesn't even know what her reflection is. In her head, if I listen, I can hear her thoughts, _Hot damn they're so stupid!_

She wanders away from the mirror after a while, and passes me, grinning. Cats grin a lot, so I guess she can get away with it.

She looks around, then starts to climb the bars. I climb after her quickly, and she looks down at me, _Mirage, I used to be-_

_The Ultimate Lifeform. I know. I hear it from you all the time. Even when I'm not trying. I haven't seen you for so long now._

_How old are you?_ I think of her.

_I think I'm nine years old now. But I still remember you from the last time they let us meet._

I growl in my throat, _I want to kill them so much!_

_Me too! she agrees,_ her claws digging into the wooden frame, _It's like we're just animals-_

We stop and turn as humans rush in, restraints and cattle prods in hand.

"Quick, they're going to fight! Get them apart!"

Instinct and anger kicks in, and I can tell it's exactly the same in Mirage's head. She slashes at a human with her claws, cutting him real deep.

_Don't fight them-_ I start to think at her, just before a cattle prod digs into my back and sends out a shock enough to make me scream.

I'm not in the tube any more. I'm in a cage now. It hurts to breathe. I'd love to just lie down and sleep, but I can't. I have to know what they're saying.

"You said you had them trained!"

"No, I said they were less aggressive! The panthress seems more so than the hedgehog, I guess we need to work on it more. Give it more training."

Shit. It's work on _her_, you bastards. I hate them so much...

"The hedgehog seems smarter though. Did you watch how it reacted when the panthress jumped down? It's certainly got the build and the temperament for fighting, but it didn't attack her."

"Still, did you see how they reacted at first? They were just... looking at each other. Weird. And the hedgehog followed the cat up the frame. It wasn't until then that she became aggressive."

"I think it definitely considers her a potential mate."

_Not that bullshit again..._

"Well, we managed it before to get her."

"That was artificial insemenation. In case you haven't noticed, hedgehogs and panthers aren't exactly natural mates. We'll probably have to do it that way again."

I think about it. Urrgh, me, and Mirage? She's a panthress. And my daughter.

Shit, I missed some of what they were saying.

"We'll have to train them both some more first. Get them used to each other."

The humans leave. With nothing to listen to, I fall asleep, and I don't know whether it's thanks to what I have heard, or my link with Mirage, but my dreams are truly horrific.

* * *

**POV Change: Mirage**

It hurts... my punishment for showing emotion... they've been training me, and I've tried to stand tall, but I couldn't, I know my only hope to maintain sanity is to fold to them.

_Shadow... help me..._

I can't even feel what they're doing any more, I'm so numb from the shocks. Sometimes I hear words, words that confuse me. I can't piece them together.

_Fold. Just fold... fold, and you will stand again..._

It hurts, I want to bite and tear, and they know it, they know I haven't given in...

How can they know?

I'm crying and screaming, I can't stop. It's not torture, it's training. Training, training...

_Don't break. Fold. Be smart, act stupid._

It's not my voice, it's Shadow's.

It gives me strength.

* * *

**POV Change: Shadow**

The next time I see Mirage, she's playing in the gym. I lost track of how long it was. She looks tired, but happy. She looks older again, too. She seems to be concentrating. Even as I watch, she vanishes, and reappears right in front of me.

What?!

_Look what I can do!_ she grins, _They taught me how to do this!_

_You're teleporting?_

_No! I'm over there!_ Mirage looks back at the place I saw her only a moment ago, But I'm projecting an image of myself here! Isn't it great!!!

So that's her skill. There must be something from me inside her. I reach out and grab her, but my hand passes through the image.

_You're being too smart,_ I warn her.

Mirage isn't listening, _This is so much fun! I can see through this image too! You're much closer!_

She's appearing randomly over the room. Finally she stops, and walks over to me.

_That was fun._

_No. It was stupid._

Mirage scowls, _Stupid? Stupid? Don't ever call me stupid! Ever!_

She starts ghosting again, not even looking at me now. Always staying in the same place, it's just her image. I can tell, because she doesn't move much as an image. And her ghost doesn't have a shadow, I realise that too.

* * *

It's tomorrow, today. At least I think it is. There's been more tests, no small number of them painful, but I get to see Mirage again, I heard them saying so. 

With restraints on me - do they really think I can't undo the straps myself? I am brought into a different, smaller room. Mirage is already in it. She has restraints, but she barely needs them - I can see swellings on her body, and electrical burns. She's sitting on the floor, curled up. I swallow my anger at the humans and walk over to her.

I sit down and look at her. She looks back at me.

_They hurt me cause I was angry, I'm scared they'll win. I don't want to be a... a pet!_

_I think they want something from us..._ I answer, I think they want us to mate.

Mirage's face twists up, as mine did yesterday, _Ew!_

_Yeah, you're a bloody cat!_

_It's not just that-_

"Okay, time's up. Time to get you back to your room, hedgehog."

I'm halfway standing up before the leash is pulled, and I realise my mistake as I see the human's expressions, and Mirage's.

Mirage screams in my head, _Do something! Don't let them know you understood!_

I stretch, and hear a sigh of relief from the humans. I fooled them, thank gods.

"Tomorrow, we'll start the physical training," says one to the other.

* * *

Once again it's tomorrow. It's hard to tell. I've not seen the sun since I came here some years ago. We're in the gym together. 

_I don't like this,_ Mirage thinks at me as we face each other, _It's tough to act stupid in a fight and yet win._

_I agree fully._

To my surprise, a robot comes out of the ceiling. It's nothing like I've ever seen before, but not just that, it's really basic. Robotnik's earliest versions were probably more dangerous. This one is probably to give us a test run. I could trash it in less than a second, but for the warning Mirage throws my way.

_Be smart. Act stupid._

I give a slight nod. _They won't kill us, we were expensive._

Mirage jumps at the machine before it can shoot, landing on top and bringing it down to the ground. I slam my fist into its mainframe, destroying it in a few rapid punches, deliberately slowing myself down.

About half a second later, what looks quite similar to an Omega robot, only there's six of them, rise up from the floor. They start shooting at us.

I forget not to think. Within a few seconds I've smashed two of them, and I can see Mirage is making up for her lesser speed with her agility.

Within seconds, it's over. All six of the robots are destroyed.

Only it isn't over. More of the robots rise up out of the floor, and we keep fighting them. It seems that they keep coming and coming. They're testing us, testing our endurance. Finally, I'm exausted. I hesitate in the wrong place, and a robot swats me into a wall. I notice Mirage already lying in a corner. Her thoughts are grey and foggy, and I can tell she's barely conscious.

The remaining robots retreat. I feel awful. Now they know how strong a fighter I am, they'll never let me go.

My thought is proved when they take me and Mirage out of the room. It's not the cage. It's a big metal room. And I'm too exausted to resist as my arms are chained up to the wall, a cold metal collar around my throat. Mirage is brought in and chained to the wall opposite, her eyes still closed, her mind still too foggy to read.

I watch as some sort of needle is inserted into my arm. I listen to them.

"... enough of this and he'll fuck walls if we want him to."

I watch, not entirely comprehending, as another needle is inserted into Mirage.

"... couple of days and we'll unlock them, see what happens."

* * *

End of Chapter 3! 

Me: Woo-hoo! Badly described sex next chapter!


	4. Drugged Love

Be Smart, Act Stupid

By Breech Loader

* * *

Me: Okay, there's some pretty hot sex in this chapter. Incestuous sex. But it's not very arousing because I wrote it when I was 15. I hadn't had sex then.

Shadow: Uh, you're sure this is allowed?

Me: Hell no! But it's not gratuitous, nothing like as graphic and only mildly disgusting. I can do much better, you know.

* * *

Chapter 4: Drugged Love

I groan, waking up and staring at the wall. As usual, Mirage is in my exact line of vision. I've been looking at her for the last two days now. People come in to give us food, water, mop up... but my brain won't think straight. It's the drugs, whispers the tiny part of me that hasn't been corrupted.

Mirage is looking back at me, groaning softly, her thick, smooth, silky fur soaked with sweat.

_I could make her sweat more..._

I can hear some of the thoughts in her mind. Whatever they're giving me, they're giving it to her too.

Three of the humans, the lab scientists, come in, though I only notice them when they're standing right in front of me, blocking my veiw of Mirage. One of them removes the needle from me, another removes the needle from Mirage.

"Restraints."

They put the restraints on me and drag me out of the room as I start to scream. I wanted to be in that room. I wanted to be with Mirage. I'm dragged into another, identical room, pushed into it, and the door slams shut. I push against it, beating my hands against the metal, screaming. The door opens again, and Mirage is pushed into the room. With me.

I can't stop myself. Nor do I want to. She's a female and I'm a male and I want this so much... to feel my flesh against hers, around her, inside her...

The tiny part of my mind that isn't a sex-crazed maniac screams at me that it's the drugs thinking. I can't listen. Nor do I want to.

I push her up against a wall and start to kiss her, and she isn't resisting, she wants this as much as I do, because she's been on the same shit. She's running her tounge over my face with an unbridled, aching passion. I can already feel my cock hardening against her. Our fur entangles, she's pressing against me with a frantic desire, I want her, I want to hear her scream my name.

To hell with love. To hell with foreplay. To hell with the fact that she's my daughter and this is sick, sick, sick. To hell with anything to do with affection; just get on with the drug-induced animalistic sex...

My hands travel up and down her body as she moans frantically, my body trembling with lust as her breasts rise and fall against my chest.

She pulls me close again, her lips searching out mine, kissing me, sliding her tounge inside my mouth, rubbing it against mine. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her against me.

Through muffled groans and gasps for breath, we drag each other down into a deep pit of passion. I lie down on top of her and thrust down and into her, listening to her frantic screams of delighted pain as she pushes up against me.

_Harder..._

Is that my thought or hers? I can't tell. I obey anyway.

* * *

**POV Change: Multiple Lab Coats**

There were about a dozen people staring at the screen, watching Project Shadow and Project Mirage fucking hard on the cell floor.

"Is it just me," said a young man, "Or do they look like they're... enjoying it?"

"You're too young to be watching these sort of movies," said a grey-haired researcher, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Animals shouldn't kiss!" said a brunette, staring as Shadow and Mirage started to kiss.

"They're... they're..."

"Ugh!"

"Wow!"

"My ex-boyfriend taught me that trick!"

One scientist watched silently, no words leaving his mouth, as he saw the movements between the two. This wasn't animal reproduction. This was lust, passion, desire. All were human things.

* * *

**POV Change: Mirage**

I continue to scream wordless passion at Shadow, as he thrusts into me. Sometimes he smothers my screams with kisses, and I recive them with joy. It hurts, oh god it hurts, it's my first time ever, and it feels so good as he breaks into me. I spread my legs even wider, trying to take him into me, every part. Nothing matters now but us.

He's my father. This is so sick, but I can't care.

Shadow's thrusts grow deeper, harder, his moans grow louder as I start to orgasm around him.

It's bliss. We can read each other's thoughts; we know exactly how to give maximum pleasure to the other. I start to kiss Shadow again, my lips leaving his and moving down his neck, then his chest, tugging at his fur with my teeth. He grips me tightly one more time, almost lifting me off the floor, and pressing his lips over mine, drives into me with a terrible longing, releasing me. I scream through him as I feel his hot sperm flood me and spill down my thighs.

We slump together, and I can feel my breathing returning to normal, and my brain with it. Shadow is smiling down at me, and I know we're both drugged with pheremones up to the eyeballs, but I have to think... think... I know I won't like what I think about...

I'm enjoying this, just lying here beneath him. I want to do it all over again. But there's something else I should have been thinking about. Before we did this, enacted this lustful, drugged ritual.

I cast my mind back a couple of days. Scientists were talking in my room. I knew I had to listen…

* * *

**Some Days Ago...**

In my semi-concious state, I feel like I want to die. The White Coats have stopped beating me, and now they're just talking to one another...

"Were you watching that interaction in the gym? They were just... looking at each other. Weird! And the hedgehog followed the cat up the frame. It's not normal; for hedgehogs to climb. And it wasn't until then that she became agressive."

"Do you think they could be potential mates? Just think of what we could breed from them!"

I think about it, slightly nauseous.

"Well, we managed it before to get her."

"That was artificial insemenation. We took his sperm and the eggs of a black panther, remember? Went wrong a few times, of course. She couldn't grow inside a hedgehog, or a cat, she was too big. Ended up losing a few panthers and a few kittens that way."

I shudder mentally at the words. _Just an experiment._

"Of course I know! We had to use an incubator to complete the growing of this one!"

"Okay, try it a different way. I'd say she's big enough to grow one of her own. Artificial insemination?"

"No." A different voice, a hard voice, "Tire them both out with training..."

The voices leave, and I curl up in pain, unable to filter out what part of the sentence is really important.

* * *

**The Present Again...**

The knowledge grows inside me like a swelling tumour, blocking out the feelings of pleasure that had been smothering me, whiting out the lusting effects of the drugs. Shadow is feeling it too; I can't hide my thoughts from him.

He pulls out of me, staring at the white and red stained floor, at the area between my thighs, at everything, as if he'd never seen it before. He draws in deep breaths, almost matching mine.

The door hisses open, and we look up. There is one human standing there, and heaven knows how many behind him. His gaze is penetrating.

"So..." he hisses at Shadow, "You're a lot smarter than you pretend to be," he looks at me, "Both of you. Get them to the special cells. I want to keep them together."

Shadow's voice speaks in my head, _We are so fucked._

My thoughts semi-leer, as I am dragged to my feet by two massive guys. In my newly fucked state, I'm in no mood to protest. Shadow is in a similar condition.

_Be smart, act stupid, or we're both dead,_ I think at him.

* * *

**POV Change: Shadow**

That was so stupid, I keep thinking as I'm dragged along. So wretchedly animal. For crying out loud, she's my daughter! And I still feel awful from the drugs. And I want to talk to Mirage so much. Not with the mind thing, but with voices. I know she understands speech. And I'm almost certain that she can talk. She's just terrified to.

I feel myself forced into thick leather straps right up against the wall. My legs are strapped to the wall as well, but not as tightly. My feet just about touch the floor. Mirage isn't so lucky, what with being six or seven inches shorter than me. Her feet are dangling several inches off the ground. Someone gets a big box for her to stand on. She growls at them.

_What next?_

The door slides open, and that human is there again. Only he's holding the cattle prod thing. He hardly looks at Mirage before striding over to me and giving me one hell of a shock, enough to make me scream. I can hear Mirage wailing in the distance, while my brain rings.

"You're not an artificial lifeform! You're a damn alien! I can't believe it took those bozos all those years to figure it out! When's the invasion?!"

There's another shock. If Mirage wasn't screaming at me to not say anything, I think I'd try to speak through the clouds of pain. It's another eternity before someone comes in and tells him to quit it, he's got other work to do.

Panting, I stare at my feet. I feel like I just died or something. I hurt all over. I didn't know it was possible for fur to ache.

Mirage whimpers, _I'm proud of you, Shadow._

_We're never gonna get outta here,_ I think to myself, forgetting for a moment that she knows my every thought.

_We have to get out of here before they make us fuck again,_ Mirage thinks.

_We have to get out of here before they make us talk,_ I think.

_Well yeah, I've been meaning to think to you about that,_ Mirage thinks at me, _I don't know if I can talk. I know words, but I didn't dare talk. I'm not sure if I can. These guys always want to make intelligent life, but when it starts getting too intelligent, they start pissing themselves in their hurry to kill it off._

_Yeah, I know..._

_Now I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to talk... _her thoughts sound sad.

I don't even need to think my thoughts deliberately any more. We've both gotten really good at reading them in the last few days. Any thought that even floats to the surface of our brain can be picked up by the other, if we're looking. The main difference is that I have more memories than she does.

Mirage respects my past though; she tries not to poke around. Sometimes I pick up thoughts like 'Who's this jerk called Sonic?' and 'Knuckles looks nice'. They're vauge and fuzzy, so I know she doesn't mean for me to hear them.

_Shadow... what's Earth like? Your Earth?_

I hesitate in my thoughts, I never really paid attention. I was always running too fast... trying to hurt people... I was such an idiot...

The door slides open again, and that guy comes in, holding the cattle prod. Fear explodes in Mirage's mind, but it's fear for my safety as well, "I know how the mind works, alien," he spits at me, "To be intelligent is not just to solve problems... it is to have empathy. To identify the feelings of others and react to them. Observe."

The cattle prod is pushed against Mirage with such vicousness, and her scream rings in my ears. The man must have seen me flinch, because he does it again. And again. She's howling and screaming, but she still doesn't talk. She can't talk. Finally he punches her in the head, and she slumps. He looks at me, "Think about it, alien."

He leaves us in the dark. I probe Mirage's mind, but there's only darkness.

How the hell am I going to get out of here?

* * *

Chapter 4 finished!

Me: Yes, I know my Original Character was very bad to shag Shadow. Please don't be too angry. I promise I won't do it again.

Shadow: That's a good thing. Because Mirage is practically my daughter.

Mirage: You're sick.

Me: I like it when people say that. It shows they've been paying attention.


	5. Nightmares

* * *

Be Smart, Act Stupid 

By Breech Loader

* * *

Me: Last Chapter. The whole fanfic hasn't been that interesting, has it? Oh, well, now it comes to its highly explosive conclusion - with explosions!

And now you know who the hell Mirage originally was and how much better she is now, if you're read my other stuff.

* * *

Chapter 5: Nightmares

_Him again... with the cattle prod thing... attacking me, shouting,_ "Where are the aliens?!" _Crazy bastard... wish I knew..._ I know it's a nightmare... sometimes I see Mirages' nightmares too... they're never anything like mine... she hasn't got experience of the world as I have.

Her nightmares are distorted; the second hand fear of my friends not accepting her... sometimes of being chased by dogs or drowning in water... she's much more animal than me. She doesn't understand about a lot of things...

Mirage is waking up, only she's not tied up any more. She's looking at me with a very familiar sneer, _You're pathetic, _she thinks at me, _All tied up to the wall._

"Stop talking to me like that!" I shout at her, but she just laughs a cat's laugh; it's horrible.

_You're pathetic! How could I ever be your daughter?!_

"You are my daughter! You can't change your DNA!"

_Am not! Am not! She starts running around the cell on all fours, then rises up and hisses at me._

"You're my damn daughter!"

_You fucked me! Ha! What sort of father does that?!_

"That doesn't count! I was drugged! So were you! And besides, you enjoyed it!"

_You're not my father! she shouts inside my mind, He is! He is! He'll take me away from you forever! You're an alien but I'm not, I'm real! I was born here! You weren't! You're nothing! You're not even Mobian, you are an experiment and nobody wants you, they just want what you are and what you know!_

And the big scientist walks in and cuddles her in a fatherly way, and I'm chained up to the wall, and they both start laughing a cat's laugh, and I'm pulling at the chains and screaming at them, "Don't talk to me like that! I'm your father!"

And then there's this horrible pain in my arms like they're being pulled out.

My eyes snap open. I was just dreaming, all that time? No, not all that time. I'm still chained up and facing Mirage. She's sleeping quietly.

No, I'm not chained up. One arm is hanging free from the leather straps. I must have pulled it free. Damn, damn, damn, I'm not ready, I haven't got a plan...

_Wait,_ a little voice, neither mine or Mirage's, whispers inside my head, _You can use this..._

The scientist is coming into the room to see what all the fuss is about. He looks at me with my dislocated shoulder. I hold it out, whimpering slightly.

"Okay, that looks painful... let's have a look at it..."

There's a horrible cat's hiss behind him. He whips around and sees Mirage, raising herself up, making herself look big to intimidate him. He raises the cattle prod thing and pushes it into her... or through her. It's just her projected image making the only stance she can when she's chained to the wall.

"Huh?"

I grab his neck with both hands and squeeze it. There's a crunch, and his neck snaps. Quickly, I rip Mirage's restraints free. The whole thing has taken about ten seconds.

Leaving the little cell and the corpse behind - Mirage taking the scientist's lab coat and dressing in it - I look around for more scientists. My rage over the last few years has been pent up and I just want to kill them all... I spot a group of them, four.

_I'll distract them, _thinks Mirage. She projects herself directly behind one and howls. He turns to stare, while I grab another by the neck.

"Where is the Chaos Emerald?" I snarl. Damn but it feels good to hear my voice again. I feel like I haven't heard myself talk in like, forever.

"Wha- you can talk?"

"I don't recall you guys ever asking," I answer, "The Chaos Emerald. It's the shiny green gem. And the shoes. And the gloves. Where are they?! Tell me now, or I'll snap this one's neck!"

"In the safe..." stammers one, "I don't know the combination..."

"Who knows?" I ask, watching Mirage climb up a vertical wall and onto the ceiling.

"None of us," says one.

"Then there's no point letting any of you live," I reply, and squeeze the scientist's neck.

Mirage drops into a scientist, snapping his back with her weight. She spins and disembowels another.

"I know! I know!" begs the one remaining.

"Take me to it," I order him, "And if you try any funny stuff... I'll kill you too."

The scientist takes us to the safe, opening it and pulling out the shoes and gloves, "We made copies... for the cat," he says, handing her a pair identical to mine, which she puts on eagerly. She tosses the gloves aside.

I breathe a sigh of relief as my hands close around the Chaos Emerald. For the first time in years I feel complete. Suddenly, the door slams shut on me and Mirage. She squeals in fear.

"Hold on, Mirage. We're getting out of here... CHAOS CONTROL!" I reappear with her outside the safe. The scientist opens his mouth to scream, but before he can even draw the breath, Mirage rips out his throat with her claws.

_Sorry, should it have been you killing him? she asks._

Between us, we nail all the scientists and guards. Mirage helps me to pile the bodies in a heap in the middle of the main lab, and looks at me curiously.

"Can you talk?" I ask her.

She tries to make a noise with her throat. But her vocal chords are almost entirely feline. A strangled mewling with what might be words, if you'd never heard words before, is all she can make.

"Well, that's a problem we can get over."

_Where shall we go now?_ Mirage asks.

I drag some explosive chemicals and pile them in a heap around the bodies. Mirage gets the idea and starts dragging anything vaguely flammable into the heap. I pick up a cattle prod and turn it on, wrapping one arm around Mirage tightly.

"We're going home," I answer, dropping the cattle prod. Just before it hits the floor, I scream out, "CHAOS CONTROL!!!" and we're flying, flying through time and space...

* * *

Epilogue...

From a distance the facility exploded in one dreadful eruption. It was a terrible warning to the world, though of what, nobody from the compound was alive to say. Blazing like the wrath of God himself, the fumes from the chemicals spreading on the wind for hundreds of miles. Thousands of people and animals died.

The owners of the facility, based in New York, were at a loss to explain the explosion to the world media, which was very interested to know how any terrorists on Earth could infiltrate a top secret high security facility and yet leave no trail...

* * *

Me: Yay! It's over! Tell me what you think, bitches! I don't think there will be a sequel. 


End file.
